سورة الحجر

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): When a time came upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) at which Allah revealed this verse to him: فَاصْدَعْ بِما تُؤْمَرُ وَ أَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْمُشْرِکِینَ [Therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists], he went out and stood upon the Hijr of Isma'il (peace be upon him) and said: "O gathering of Quraysh and O gathering of the Arabs! I call you to the worship of Allah and to casting aside partners and idols, and I call you to bear witness that there is no god but Allah, for I am the Messenger of Allah! Answer me, so that the Arabs may become rulers and the non-Arabs may come under your command, and you may become kings of Paradise." They mocked him and laughed and said: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah has gone mad, and they hurt him with their tongues.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Those who mocked the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) were five: Walid ibn Mughira, As ibn Wa'il, Aswad ibn Muttalib, Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth, and Harith ibn Tulatila al-Khuza'i. Because of the severity of the harm and harassment that Walid inflicted upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the Prophet cursed him and said: "O Allah, blind his eyes and make him taste the grief of losing his child." His eyes were blinded and his son was killed at the Battle of Badr. The Prophet also cursed Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth and Harith ibn Tulatila al-Khuza'i. Walid ibn Mughira passed by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) while Jibra'il was beside him. Jibra'il said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! This Walid ibn Mughira is one of those who mocks you." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Yes." A man from Khuza'a was sitting beside the mosque fitting feathers to his arrows. Walid had stepped on an arrow and a piece of it had gone into the heel of his foot, and it was bleeding. Jibra'il pointed to that spot. Walid went home and lay down on his bed. His daughter was sleeping below him. Suddenly blood gushed from that wounded heel to which Jibra'il had pointed, until it reached his daughter's bed. The daughter noticed the wetness and moisture, and said: "O maid, the tie of the waterskin has come undone." Walid said: "It is not the tie of the waterskin that has come undone, but rather it is the blood of your father. Gather my sons and my brother's sons here, for I am going to depart from this world." The daughter did so. Walid said to Abdullah ibn Rabi'a: "Umara ibn Walid lives in Abyssinia in a cramped house; obtain a letter from Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) to the Negus so that he may send him back." And he said to his son Hashim, who was the youngest of his sons: "My son, I give you five instructions—carry them out. First, kill Abu Dirham al-Dawsi, for he forcibly took my wife—who was his daughter—from me, whereas if he had left her with her husband, she would have borne me a son like you. Take revenge for my blood from Khuza'a, even though they did not kill me intentionally—yet I fear you will forget it after me. Take revenge for me from Banu Khuzayma ibn Amir. And I have blood-monies owed to me in Thaqif—collect them. And I owe two hundred dinars to the bishop of Najran; pay it." Then he gave up his soul. Abu Zam'a al-Aswad passed by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and Jibra'il made a sign toward his eyes. He became blind and perished. Likewise Jibra'il made a sign toward the belly of Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth, and he contracted dropsy and severe thirst until his belly burst open. He made a sign toward the feet of As ibn Wa'il, and a stick entered the hollow of the sole of his foot and came out through the top of his foot, and he perished. He made a sign toward the face of Harith ibn Tulatila; Harith went off to the mountains of Tihama, and a hot, scorching wind blew upon him and he was afflicted with extreme thirst until his belly burst open and he died. And this is the meaning of the verse إِنَّا کَفَیْنَاکَ المُسْتَهْزِئِینَ [Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers].

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): [It is narrated from Imam Kazim (peace be upon him), who through his noble forefathers narrated] from Imam Husayn (peace be upon him), who said: "One day, one of the Jewish scholars of Sham, who had read the heavenly books — the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur and the scriptures of the prophets — and was fully acquainted with the proofs and evidences of all of them, entered a gathering in which a group of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) were present, along with Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, and Abu Ma'bad al-Juhani." The Jew said: "O nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! You have not left any rank or virtue of the prophets and messengers without attributing all of them to your own Prophet. Are you now prepared to answer my questions on this matter?" When they heard this question, all fell silent and said nothing. When Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) saw this, he said: "Yes, I am ready! And I repeat again that Allah the Exalted did not bestow any rank or virtue upon the prophets and messengers without granting all of them to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family); rather, He bestowed many times more upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)." The Jewish scholar asked: "Will you answer me?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Yes, today I will mention to you virtues of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that will bring light to the eyes of the believers and remove the doubt of those who doubt his virtues. Whenever he (upon him be blessings and peace) would enumerate a virtue for himself, he would say: 'I take no pride in it.' And I now mention his virtues in such a way that no defect will be caused in the standing of the other prophets, and I mention this solely as gratitude to Allah for what He bestowed upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), similar to what He gave to all the prophets." The Jewish scholar said: "I ask you, so prepare your answer." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Begin." The Jewish scholar said: "This is Musa (peace be upon him) whom Allah sent to Pharaoh and through whose hand He manifested a great miracle." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is so, and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) was sent to many pharaohs — persons like Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, Utba ibn Rabi'a, Shayba, Abu al-Bakhtari, Nasr ibn al-Harith, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Munabbih and Nubayh the two sons of al-Hajjaj, and to the five scoffers: al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi, al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi, al-Aswad ibn 'Abd Yaghuth al-Zuhri, al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, and al-Harith ibn al-Talatila — so that He might show them signs in the horizons and in themselves until it became clear to them that he is upon the truth." The Jewish scholar said: "Allah took a severe revenge upon Pharaoh for Musa (peace be upon him)." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "It is so, and Allah likewise took a severe revenge upon these pharaohs for Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). As for the scoffers, Allah has said concerning them: إِنَّا کَفَیْناکَ المُسْتَهْزِئِینَ [Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers]; so He killed all five of them on the day of Uhud. As for al-Walid ibn al-Mughira: one day he was going somewhere and passed by a path where a man from Khuza'a had placed a feathered arrow, and a splinter from it struck him and cut his akhal vein until blood flowed. As he was dying, he said: 'The Lord of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has killed me!' As for al-'As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi: one day he had gone to a place for some work when a stone slipped from under his foot, he fell, was torn to pieces and perished, saying: 'The Lord of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has killed me!' As for al-Aswad ibn 'Abd Yaghuth: one day he had gone out to receive his son Zam'a and on the way stopped in the shade of a tree. At that moment Jibra'il descended and struck his head against the tree, and he said [to his slave]: 'Save me from this person!' His slave said: 'I see no one doing anything to you except yourself!' Then he killed him, and he was saying: 'The Lord of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has killed me!' As for al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) cursed him, asking Allah to extinguish the light of his eyes and to have him killed at the hands of his son. One day he had gone to a place for some work when Jibra'il came to him with a green leaf and struck his face with it until he became blind. He remained in that state of blindness until Allah appointed his son to kill him. As for al-Harith ibn al-Talatila: he went out of his house in the hot weather and was caught by a poisonous wind (samum), and as a result his face was changed into that of an Abyssinian man. When he returned to his family, he said: 'I am al-Harith.' Since the household did not recognize him, they became enraged and killed him, and in that state he was saying: 'The Lord of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has killed me!' And it is narrated that al-Aswad ibn al-Harith, as a result of eating a salty fish, was overcome with thirst, and drank so much water that his belly burst, and in that state he was saying: 'The Lord of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has killed me!' All of these events occurred within a single hour, and this was because they had said with one voice before the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! We give you until noon; if you do not retract your words, we will kill you.' So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), grieved and sorrowful at their words, went to his house and locked the door. But at that very hour Jibra'il came to him from Allah and said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! al-Salam (one of the names of Allah) sends peace to you and says: فَاصْدَعْ بِما تُؤْمَرُ وَ أَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْمشْرِکِینَ [Then declare openly what you have been commanded, and turn away from the polytheists] — that is, manifest your affair to the people of Mecca and call them to faith.' He said: 'O Jibra'il! What shall I do about the scoffers and their threat?' Jibra'il said: إِنَّا کَفَیْناکَ المُسْتَهْزِئِینَ [Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers].' He said: 'O Jibra'il! They are with me right now.' Jibra'il said: 'I have finished them off; now manifest the divine command.' As for the rest of the pharaohs, they were all killed by the sword on the day of Badr, and Allah scattered their gathering and they all perished."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)- Ibn Abbas said: On the night of the Battle of Badr, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood in prayer, weeping and shedding tears, and pleading like a beggar for food, saying: "O Allah! Fulfill what You have promised me!" He would prostrate, and in his prostration he was humble and imploring. Then Allah the Exalted revealed to him: "We have fulfilled Our promise to you, and We have supported you with your cousin Ali (peace be upon him), and their slaughter shall be at his hands, and We have sufficed you against the scoffers. So place your trust in Allah and rely upon Him, for I am the best of those in whom you may place your trust, and He is the most excellent of those upon whom you may rely."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)- Regarding the words of Allah the Exalted: إِنَّا کَفَیْناکَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِینَ [Surely We will suffice you against the scoffers]; meaning his enemies and their allies, and everyone who used to mock Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). And these are the ones who said: "This is Muhammad's (peace be upon him and his family) chosen one from among his family," and they used to wink at one another concerning Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him). So Allah revealed the verse: وَ لَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّکَ یَضیقُ صَدْرُکَ بِما یَقُولُونَ [And We already know that your breast is straitened by what they say].